Mid Peninsula Highway renamed the Niagara
- GTA Corridor.
The Terms of Reference for the Environmental Assessment
released by the Ministry of Transportation. [More
information to come!!! ]

In February 2004, the Hon. John Gerretsen, Provincial
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, established a thirteen member
Greenbelt Task Force for the Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario. The
Task Force, which was chaired by Burlington Mayor Robert MacIsaac, included
a wide range of stakeholder experts from academia, government, industry,
and non-government organizations. Recommendations were developed to
preserve a permanent Greenbelt for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and
are summarized in the final report dated October 2004.

FOR COPE’s POSITION ON THE GREENBELT
REPORT AND HELP IN MAKING YOUR VOICE HEARD, GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS
PAGE.

The Mid Peninsula Highway issue is connected to the Provincial Government’s
Greenbelt Initiative as well as the Places to Grow Growth Plan.

The task force has issued their final report on the Greenbelt. Minister
Gerretsen, Municipal Affairs and Housing, introduced the Greenbelt Protection
Act, 2004 as the governments first step in establishing the greenbelt
of southern Ontario. The government has held public meetings to obtain
feedback before passing the legislation into law. The government intends
to have the final plan ready for December 16, 2004.

A map of the Greenbelt Study Area and the Niagara Escarpment is presented
below. This map and the full Discussion Paper can be found at the web
site links below.

Of concern to COPE is the allowance of transportation corridors in
the Greenbelt as specified in section 4.2.1 of the report on infrastructure.
It states the proposed Niagara to GTA … Corridor is identified
as an area of transportation deficiency, where new transportation improvement
is being contemplated to support the Growth Plan. The Niagara to GTA
corridor is the Mid Peninsula Highway renamed. It is important that
we as COPE members show our continued dedication to stopping this ill-conceived
highway on the Niagara Escarpment.

Representatives from COPE attended Stakeholder Workshops, including
the June 16, 2004 meeting at the Burlington Convention Centre. This
involvement plus our review of the Discussion Paper and Report were
used to formulate COPE's position on the Greenbelt. Read COPE's official
response on the Discussion Paper.